Solar Power on the Shortest Day December 22, 2009
Posted by Graham in : Kinsale, Permaculture, Renewable Energy, Tools and technology , add a commentIt is now exactly 6 months since I set up my 600watt at Derryduff.
Having now reached the shortest days of the year I am in a position to evaluate its performance, and I can say it has served me very well. Obviously there has been a huge difference in power availability between summer and winter, but in fact the last 10 days here have seen constant sunshine -along with freezing temperatures- and I have probably had more power so far in December than October.
As I said in the earlier post, on a system like this you cut your cloth according to your measure, so giving an account of my energy consumption would be misleading- I would use more electricity if i had it! In fact though I use and need very little- on average 1-2Kwh/day would be loads to run computer, one or two lights, radio and some power tool use. Some days I would use more, and I made good use of an electric chainsaw during the longer days. The only major increase in power consumption is likely to come from a washing machine which I intend to get in the near future, the model I am looking at only uses 1.2kw per cycle, and would easily be achievable on any sunny day any time of the year.
I did run short of power a couple of weeks ago and have invested in a small petrol generator as a back up, mainly to protect the batteries, and to ensure I need never be without some power if I want it. I have only had to run the generator on a handful of evenings during cloudy weather when I have run the batteries down with power tools during the day; it would not however be too much of a hardship to do without the generator and only use power when available.
To increase power availability I could put up a wind turbine, but at this stage it might be better to invest in more batteries- I only have approx. 1000Amph storage at present- and maybe a couple more PV panels. This might be sufficient as I dont expect to be increasing my electricity consumption drastically any time soon. The great advantage of PV over wind is that there are no moving parts, no maintenance and they are modular- I can add in more panels whenever I have some spare cash.
In short I am satisfied that I can live just on a modest solar array even in cloudy gray Ireland. For my situation it has been a good option; for a family of four, maybe not unless supplemented by wind.
I also want to mention my new Rayburn wood burning range that I installed in the cabin just this weekend. It replaces a cast iron stove, but I missed the range from the roundhouse for baking, and I am delighted with it so far. Ranges are a great option, doing everything at once: space heating, water heating, oven for baking, hob for cooking. It might require a little more wood than the stove, but that is one source of fuel I have plenty of. It should mean I use less gas for cooking at least in the winter months, and increases resilience as I could do without gas altogether if I had to.
Best of all, the range was free- many thanks to Liam and Ger who were replacing it with an oil burner, and to Ciara who pointed them in my direction!
We also got to play with the PV demonstration panel we have at the Kinsale college.
The meter reads 3.19 amps from an 80watt panel.
Solstice Solar Array June 21, 2009
Posted by Graham in : Renewable Energy , 2commentsI just wired up a new photovoltaic array- an auspicious time to do it on the longest- and so far the sunniest- day of the year.
Delivering a cool 600 watts of raw solar power at 24volts, the impressive bank of solar electric panels represents a true powering up here at Derryduff.
The panels cost me about 2000 euros on ebay- about 2/3 of the new price; they were originally from Surface Power.
I also have a bank of 4 Rolls batteries (244Ah each) bought from Wind and Sun. Cost: 1300 euros.
The 2.5Kw inverter is from Victron; I bought it a few years ago for around 1500 euros.
The controller is a ProStar -30 from Morningstar, supplied by the Sustainability Institute for 85 euros.
Add in 24v compact fluorescent lights, cables and connectors and you are looking at over 5000 euros for this system. (more…)
Essential Reading on Population March 28, 2009
Posted by Graham in : Human Ecology, Population, Renewable Energy , 5commentsThe Real Perils of Human Population Growth by David and Marcia Pimentel
The present world population of 6.7 billion is projected by the United Nations to increase to 9 billion and may rise to as many as 11 billion by 2050. Even if a worldwide policy of two children per couple (instead of the current 2.8 children) were agreed on tomorrow, the world population will continue to expand for about seventy years before stabilizing at about 13 billion people.
Powerdown Toolkit #4: Rethinking Energy March 2, 2009
Posted by Graham in : Peak Oil, Powerdown, Renewable Energy, community , 1 comment so farThis is the introduction to week four of the Powerdown Toolkit 10-week community learning course created by the Cultivate Centre in Dublin. It has an accompanying TV show with a 30-minute episode accompanying each week of the course, soon to be aired on Dublin Community TV.
Rethinking Energy: Conservation, Curtailment, Efficiency and Appropriate Technology
by David Fleming and Graham Strouts
Energy is first and foremost a demand issue- how much do we need and for what ?- and yet the majority of public debate on the issue is to do with finding new sources of supply so as to allow industrial growth to continue.
Community Powerdown is concerned with redesigning our living arrangements as far as possible so as to reduce demand. We need to reduce drastically both per capita energy consumption as well as total world energy use.
This is an essential point to understand because simply making energy use more efficient, or even reducing per capita consumption, will not be sufficient if total demand is still increasing- for example, driven by rising population.
This means that we will sometimes have to make hard decisions about what we use energy for. Energy is fundamental but one of the challenges of understanding energy in today’s’ world is that we are so unaware of how much we use or what the impacts of its use are. Taking more responsibility for how we use energy is the starting point.
In order to understand better our use of energy it is useful to consider the laws of thermodynamics, and how they impose absolute limits on energy consumption in society. By understanding this we will be able to make better choices about the use of energy in society. (more…)
Road Trip June 18, 2008
Posted by Graham in : Gardens, General, Permaculture, Renewable Energy, Yurts , 1 comment so farA recent trip up country took me first to Westport where I called in on the Sustainability Institute, home of the Irish Sustainability Magazine.
Right: Sustainability editor Andy Wilson hard at work
Andy Wilson’s creation of the Sustainability Magazine has been a remarkable achievement, bringing a much-needed serious journal into the Irish environmental landscape. Starting up a new magazine from scratch is no mean feat and the scholarly and well-researched articles on a wide range of topics is to be greatly welcomed. The third issue is out this week. (more…)
Charcoal Making at Manch June 8, 2008
Posted by Graham in : Food, Renewable Energy, Tools and technology , 4commentsI have recently been experimenting with some simple charcoal making in an oil drum. I did a couple of demonstrations a few weeks ago for first a Biodiversity day and second the Slow Food “Munch at the Manch” events at the Manch Forestry project, near Dunmanway.
Charcoal will potentially play an important role in the post-oil world, with many important uses including for use on a blacksmith’s forge-i it burns much hotter than wood; I have read that it can even reach welding temperatures. (more…)
Pedal Power February 15, 2008
Posted by Graham in : Renewable Energy , 1 comment so farI had the pleasure of visiting the Cork Community Bike project in Cork City the other day where I found Garrett Blake and Rob in the workshop. 
Both have been to the inspiring Maya Pedal Project in Guatamala which has created a great range of pedal powered machines including grinders, mills, pumps and generators. This is exactly the kind of appropriate and sustainable, empowering technology we should be focusing on more, rather than putting all our faith in high-tech solutions such as thin-film solar
Garrett, who has a Masters in Sustainable Energy from UCC, founded the project three years ago to promote training and facilities for bikes and pedal powered machines in Cork. From their website:
“Cork community bikes is developing a do-it-yourself bike workshop for the community to use. Our work aims to salvage unwanted bicycles from the waste stream, repair them and resell them. We work with local schools and youth groups promoting the use of bicycles and sustainable transport . We want the workshop to be a centre of training and a social focus for anybody with an interest in bicycles in the cork city.”
I had a go on their pedal-powered dynamo which can be used to power sound systems at festivals. This is something I could really do with, having limited power at home, for charging batteries. A good dynamo with a fit pedaler can generate something in the range of 100watts, enough to run a laptop computer for example.
Another good site with info on pedal powered dynamos can be found here.
Pedal power is of course a key part of any post-oil society and it is great to see projects like this springing up providing such tools and skills. All power to their pedals.
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Renewable Energy Cannot Sustain a Consumer Society September 9, 2007
Posted by Graham in : Peak Oil, Permaculture, Renewable Energy , 6commentsBook Review:
Ted Trainer -
Renewable Energy Cannot Sustain a Consumer Society
Springer 2007 hbck 197pp
Ted Trainer, of the University of New South Wales, has made a valuable contribution to the literature of energy and resource depletion with his new book Renewable Energy Cannot Sustain a Consumer Society.
The title says a lot I think. With the focus of most mainstream debate on peak oil and energy being on the supply side- the oil is running low so what are we going to use instead?- Trainer brings a refreshing approach in which he provides a detailed and technically comprehensive analyses of existing renewable energy options- including wind, solar thermal, solar electric, biomass and energy crops, and hydrogen, as well as a look at nuclear and the issue of storing energy- and concludes:
“…we could easily have an extremely low per capita rate of energy consumption, and footprint, based on local resources- but only if we undertake vast and radical change in economic, political, geographical and cultural systems.” (more…)
DIY Solar Panel September 6, 2007
Posted by Graham in : Green Building, Renewable Energy , 2commentsI have recently installed a DIY solar panel on the Permacabin (Timber framed cabin with all perma-cons):
This has been constructed using clip-fins from CAT and following instructions in their booklet Solar Water Heating- A DIY Guide by Paul Trimby. (more…)
